Heading to Portland and Lincoln City, OR

[Ol'Drippy]

Going out to see the in-laws, et al. We're flying into Portland, then going straight to the beach house in Lincoln City. Anything you locals recommend out that way? It will have to be family friendly I go to Tillamook every time I'm out that way and get some snacks.. we love that cheddar. Lemme know any ideas you may have.. later. RobSub

 

[RBBailey]

1. McMinnville Evergreen Flight Museum.
2. Go north of L. City, across the river, then take the first actual road on your left -- there is a trail head there someplace that takes you right up the side of that hill with a very good view at the top.
3. The dunes at Pacific City
4. Depoe Bay and any of the wayside beaches and hikes along 101

 

[Velocewest]

Probably should schedule a visit to one of the Moe's Chowder locations. Good chowder, Oregon tradition.

Screw the cheese, hit up the Tillamook Creamery for some Wild Mountain Blackberry ice cream.

Get on down to Newport, to the Rogue Ales Public House. Rogue is one of the best brewers in Oregon.

I'm perpetually clueless about the season, but one of my favorite things is to rent a boat and few crab pots and catch fresh crab. You can buy it for about the same price, but nothing beats bobbing around one of the bays drinking beer and hauling in your own catch.

 

[jammin]

The best dunes are the 40 mile stretch from Florence to North Bend. (I'm more familiar with the south end... grew up there.)

The Rogue is some good stuff (the meershaum beer/cheddar soup is amazing), but if you're not heading that far south check out the Pelican Brewery in Pacific City (a bit more than 30 min south of Tillamook... could stop there on the way to Lincoln City). Outstanding beer, really good food (try the shark bites!), and nice view. Very family friendly... went there for my daughter's first beach trip when she was only a few months old, and a few times since. (In the last year... she's still tiny.)

If you're in a rover there's a bonus... you can drive right down on the beach, right in front of the place. Not a lot of places you can do that... very handy. It's also fairly close to sand lake, and not too terribly far from a decent OHV riding area (Brown's Camp, etc along HWY 6. (Again, trails for your rover. Plenty of easy stuff to putt around on and check out scenery.)

I'll second the Evergreen Aviation Museum, too. Very cool. And the mountain blackberry ice cream at Tillamook! (If you go there, be sure to get some squeaky cheese. I forget the real name... it's the fresh cheddar bits, before they get pressed and aged.)

Have fun!

 

[jammin]

Almost forgot... as far as crabbing goes, I've always heard that late August to early September is almost a perfect time to go.

Commercial ocean crabbing is shut down from August 15 - November 30, when dungeness typically molt. That means less competition for the big ones.

The early part of that break is supposed to be good because:

- Larger crab that spend more time in deeper waters are heading for shallower areas (such as bays) to hide while they molt.
- Getting the crab right before they molt means they've filled up their shell to the point of needing a bigger one. That translates into more meat per crab!

If you do try that out, you need a shellfish license nowadays. I don't know what that entails for a nonresident. For me it was about $12, I think.

If you find crab pots, traps, and boats to be a big pain, there are snares you can use with a fishing pole. There's even a mini trap you can use with a pole... http://www.crabhawk.com. Supposedly you can just cast into the bay right off the beach. I ran into a guy earlier this year hauling some in that way in Nehalem. (Which explains why I ran out to get one, but haven't tried it yet... so I can't vouch for it personally yet.)

 

[Ol'Drippy]

Thanks for the tips..

"Go north of L. City, across the river, then take the first actual road on your left -- there is a trail head there someplace that takes you right up the side of that hill with a very good view at the top." Looking at the map, are you talking about N 3 Rocks Road? Is that a hiking trail or a truck trail you are talking about?

We won't have a Rover, we'll be rollin in the in-laws 'Yota Tundra though.. so very mild off pavement will be a possibility.

If you'll be in the area next week, PM me before Saturday with your phone number and I'll buy ya a beer while I'm out that way.. later.. RobSub

 

[Andrew Homan]

X2 on Mo's. Great food

 

[Ol'Drippy]

I don't think I could eat chowder if my life depended on it.. I just threw up in my mouth a little bit